I am the Marine who posted about a week ago. Thank you all for responding. I have a few questions. I like the idea of owning a classic racer/cruisers. I plan on joining the yacht club to race for fun, but I also want to be able to cruise anywhere I want to offshore. I am interested in the Islander 36 and the Catalina 38. They seem to be the very serious classic racer/cruisers. I am sold on the old boats designed and built in the 1970's.

I would also like a protected rudder - preferably a skeg mounted rudder. I plan on going aground at least once a week. My major limitation is the shallow (sheol?) marina up New River, where I plan on slipping for the next two years. Max draft must be 5'4" or less. This rules out both the Islander 36 and the Catalina 38, unless they are modified ($6-8k for a keel job).

What can you tell me about the Islander Freeport 36 designed by Robert Perry? Did they use the same molds for the hull as the I36? Is it still a fast boat? or just rare and roomy? I understand there were less than 200 built.

What other boats should I look at? Are there others that fit into this category that I don't know about yet? There must be. I have only been in the sailing community for about five minutes. Please enlighten me.

Last year i sailed an older Islander 36 from San Francisco to Cabo/Mexico in the BajaHaHa. Got stuck in a bit of bad weather on occasion while enroute - lots of chop and gusts over 40 and the boat was excellent. Very solid feel at the helm and we averaged a good speed in all wind conditions. Cant comment on the Catalina 38 but I think it is a safe bet to say the Islander was built better then similiar size Cat/Hunter/Irwin of the same period, and Ive owned Irwin Citations and Hunters and wouldnt venture much further out under the Golden Gate then a few miles.

I've got a 1970 Irwin 38, different boat than the later Citations, stout and fast,has a 3'9"draft with centerboard up,carries about 700 Sq ft sail, 10'6" beam,About 30ft waterline, picks up about 3 ft. underway, I sail around Corpus Christi Bay ,see 7 kts on GPS on close reach with 18 kt breezes quite frequently. I've only seen references to 2 of these boats so far and mine's one of them. Art.

Look at a Tartan 37 from the 70's: The most popular model was build with a centerboard (draft from 4.7' to over 7').
Great pedigree, like the Catalina 38, she is an S&S design. She is fast, well build and has a very functional interior.
They were (and still are) very poular on the East Coast and in the Great Lake areas.
Hopes it helps you,
Paul

The Freeport 36 was a pilothouse (Mostly) motorsailor, rather than the Island 36, which was a cruiser/racer.

The Freeport was a pretty boat, loads of space and (unusually) had a queen sized bed in a small cabin forward of the saloon. As I recall it had a cutout forefoot, but was basically a long-keel boat. I also remember it didn't seem to have enough sail area for a boat that heavy.

I think all of the Islanders were made at the same plant, but don't hold my feet to the fire on that one. I remember they seemed well built, and were a very popular boat in the 1970's/1980's, before the economy tanked and a lot of boat builders went belly up.

The Islander Freeport 36 is a raised salon, not a pilot house, fin keel with a skeg rudder. It is not a motor sailer. It sails very well. It is a Bob Perry design. It is an excellent boat for a couple. Search yahoo groups for "foggers". This is a Freport owners groups. Post you question there. Also go to goodoldboat.com and search their owners associations section and you will find some Islander 36 owner groups. The Good Old Boat
Magazine did a story on the Freeport 36 a while back. You might be able to get a copy of that. Both boats are excellents boat.

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